A transistor in a large scale integrated (LSI) circuit and a thin film transistor (TFT) in a flat panel display and the like are all field-effect transistors (FETs). The performance of FETs has been improved by reduction in size of each element. In silicon semiconductor processes, micromachining with a minimum dimension of 0.1 μm or less has been realized by reduction in wavelength of a light source of exposure light used in photolithography.
However, size reduction by photolithography has come close to its limitation. In addition, prices of exposure equipment and photomasks have been increased.
In recent years, techniques for fabricating an electronic device by using a carbon nanotube (CNT), a semiconductor nanowire or the like have drawn attention. A CNT, a nanowire or the like has a micropillar structure having a diameter of several nm, and leaves the possibility of realizing electrical devices in the nanometer size. The operation of a non-volatile memory using a CNT has been reported (see Non-Patent Reference 1). Also, the operation of a transistor using a nanowire at room temperature has been reported (see Non-Patent Reference 2). To put those electric devices into practical use, an arrangement position, an arrangement direction, a diameter and an arrangement density of a CNT or a nanowire need to be controlled. As a method for controlling an arrangement position and an arrangement direction, a method for controlling an arrangement direction of a CNT using an electric field (see Non-Patent Reference 3), a method for forming a fluid flow channel using a mold made of polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) (i.e., flow method, see Non-Patent Reference 4) and the like have been reported.
Non-Patent Reference 1: T. Rueckers, et al., “Carbon Nanotube-Based Nonvolatile Random Access Memory for Molecular Computing,” Science vol. 289 pp. 94, 2000
Non-Patent Reference 2: D. Wang, et al., “Germanium nanowire field-effect transistors with SiO2 and high-k HfO2 gate dielectric,” Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 83 pp. 2432, 2003
Non-Patent Reference 3: Y. Zhang, et al., “Electric-field-directed growth of aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes,” Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 79 pp. 3155, 2001
Non-Patent Reference 4: Y. Huang, et al., “Directed Assembly of One-Dimensional Nanostructure into Functional Networks,” Science vol. 291 pp. 630, 2001